Meet Yonisha Elmadany of YoshFilmss

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yonisha Elmadany.

Yonisha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I always knew the film was my passion. When I was in 7th grade (2005), I asked my mother to buy me a camera and computer for Christmas. She did just that along with a webcam and microphone. Shorty, I begin recording short videos of me and my younger brother. We decided to record a short video dancing to Snoop Dogg sensual seduction song lol. At the time, I didn’t know anything about a final cut or adobe suites. Therefore, I edited the video on windows movie maker.

In the video, I made myself pop up in the middle of the sofa. I’m not sure how I did it but I played around with some edits and made it happen. I showed the video to my mom and she was amazed at how I did that. That was the moment I knew I had some kind of natural talent at filming and editing. I went to Albany State for two years and graduated from the University of West Georgia with a film and media arts degree. I applied to several jobs after graduating from college. No luck. Soon after graduating, I moved to Savannah and lived my life completing graduate school and being a mother to my son. I can say I gave up on my dreams for the time being. I thought being in the film industry was slim to none, especially while being an African American woman. I found myself lost, depressed, regretting the decision to follow my dreams.

In February 2018, I woke up from a dream that I was doing a film in Atlanta. I told my mom about the dream and she told me that I should go ahead and leave Savannah and move back here. Five months later, I moved, invested in a better camera, and started my media company. I run my business myself while also being an educator. I teach middle school math during the week and run my business on the weekends. I provide film, editing, and photography services for companies in Atlanta and surrounding counties. I’ve worked with million-dollar companies and captured footage of some of the greatest entertainers in the industry. I recently shot a holiday short film that premiered at the Screening Room ATL.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The most difficult part about running my business is long hours of editing and learning new editing strategies. A one-minute video can take 2-10 hours to edit based on the client’s preferred content. I have spent several nights editing while having to go to work the following morning. The biggest challenges I’ve had to face were getting content sent over in a short period of time, while preparing lesson plans for my students. Running a business while working a job that requires 40+ hours a week can be strenuous.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment was when I received my highest budget gig. I had recently spoken with a friend about self-worth and creating rates and budgets that match your quality of work. He taught me some things.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yoshfilmss.wixsite.com/yoshfilmss
• Phone: 678972-7390
• Email: yoshfilmss@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Chuckrare

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